Operation: MOVIES
by DanniB
Summary: The Kids Next Door sneek into an R rated movie. Their one mistake? Bringing Numbuh 3 along.
1. A Night At The Movies

Note to readers: I don't own the Kids Next Door, but you knew that already. This fanfic contains references to violence, brief nudity, and rainbow monkeys! But mostly rainbow monkeys, the horror!  
  
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[Now Loading:]- [Kids Next Door Mission:]  
  
Operation: M.O.V.I.E.S  
  
Movies  
  
Often  
  
Verify  
  
Irrational  
  
Extreme  
  
Scardiness  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
Multicolored smiling faces beamed warmly at the open room. A glowing light above them read, "Now playing: Rainbow Monkeys, The Movie. Hug the rainbow." A crowd of many little girls clinging to the arms of their parents was clustered in the lobby joyfully exclaiming this was the movie they wanted to see before dragging the aforementioned mother or father to the ticket booth. Amid the sea of screaming girls a sleeve covered hand pointed to the glossy poster.  
  
"I wanna see this one!" Numbuh 3 jumped up and down excitedly. "Can we see the Rainbow Monkey movie? Can we? Can we?!"  
  
Numbuh 4 watched her gleeful display with a disgusted look.  
  
"That stuff's fa girly babies. The only way you'd eva' see me in a theater showin' Rainbow Monkeys is if somebody conked me on the head, dragged my sorry carcass in, chained me to the seat an' super glued my eyes open. An' if anyone eva' tried---" He balled his fists and snarled low, the thought irked him. Numbuh 3 crossed her arms with a huff.  
  
"You just don't understand the charm of Rainbow Monkeys."  
  
"What charm? They're stupid monkeys?"  
  
"*Ahem *" The duo turned to face their leader standing behind them, Numbuh 5 at his side.  
  
"Numbuh 5 and I have secured the tickets. Has Numbuh 2 returned from obtaining the snacks?"  
  
"Right here!" Numbuh 2 waddled over, balancing a high piled stack of popcorn bags, boxes of candy, sodas and some nachos with cheese. He maneuvered the load to better see his teammates. "Movie snack bars have the best food!"  
  
"Good, now that we're all here," Numbuh 1 began, "Let's get down to business."  
  
"Rainbow Monkey movie! Rainbow Monkey movie!" Numbuh 3 shouted, bouncing again.  
  
"We're not seein' that stupid Rainbow Monkey movie!" Numbuh 4 yelled at her. "We're not, are we Numbuh 1?"  
  
"No Numbuh 4, tonight we're going into what was up until now considered forbidden territory for kids." He pulled a rolled up page of newspaper from his back pocket. "What I'm talking about, is an R rated movie."  
  
He unfurled the paper to the group showing them an ad for a movie entitled, "Blood Town" which was a sinister picture of some teens standing in a row with a shadowy figure with a knife looming behind them. The youngsters ogled the spooky poster.  
  
"OOOOOhhhh---"  
  
" 'Ooh', indeed." Numbuh 1 rolled the paper back up. "For too long adults have lead us to believe that kids aren't capable of handling the content of any movie over PG. Well, I believe it's time to prove them wrong. This censorship is a heavily used tool by the grown ups, for all we know they could be using these movies to send each other instructions on how to further suppress the youth."  
  
"That or they think it'll be too scary for us." Numbuh 2 added.  
  
"All right! This is gonna be great!" Numbuh 4 shouted smiling. "This gonna be way betta' then any cruddy girl movie!"  
  
"Dunno, Numbuh 5 just hope this don't end up like the time we hacked through those child locks on the Internet."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
~Flashback, Sometime maybe a month or two earlier the quintet had gathered around a computer in their base. Numbuh 5 was quietly typing away as Numbuh 1 supervised. The remaining teammates stood behind them waiting.  
  
"We are through." The dark skinned girl announced.  
  
"Good." Numbuh 1 began, "Now let's see what those adults are hiding. Bring up the first sight."  
  
She nodded and typed again, a few seconds later the entire group looked at the screen and let out a shocked gasp.  
  
"They're naked!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise.  
  
Numbuh 1 quickly covered her eyes; she was far too innocent to be seeing this sort of thing.  
  
"What are they doing?!" Numbuh 2 was very confused.  
  
"Ah, gross!" Numbuh 4 shouted.  
  
"What? What's going on?" Numbuh 3 tried to peek over Numbuh 1's hand to see. He quickly maneuvered to keep her peepers covered.  
  
"Trust me Numbuh 3, you don't want to see this!"  
  
"Ugh, I'm gonna be sick!" Numbuh 4 dry heaved, covered his mouth and ran off. His friends could hear him vomiting out the nearest window.  
  
Numbuh 2 held his palms clasped tightly over his goggles, his eyes squeezed shut.  
  
"Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!!!" He pleaded urgently.  
  
"Numbuh 5, Abort the mission! ABORT!" Numbuh 1 ordered, averting his eyes from the grotesque images on the screen.  
  
Numbuh 5, who did nothing to hide her disgusted expression, quickly pounded the "escape" key on the keypad causing the computer to go blank.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Numbuh 1 thought back to that disaster with a look of embarrassed horror on his face. Shaking the foul memory from his head he regained himself.  
  
"Well, yes." He cleared his throat. "There are a few things I'll admit we aren't ready to handle. But I've done enough research on this movie to know that it is free from such," he shuddered. "vulgarity."  
  
"But how are we going to get past the usher?" Numbuh 2 questioned, eyeing the disheveled teen checking tickets only a few yards away.  
  
"By utilizing a tactic perfected by college students and kids alike--- theater hopping."  
  
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+  
  
They approached the pimply male in the bad polyester tuxedo casually, smiling innocently to dissuade any notions they were here for any rebellious deeds. Numbuh 5 handed him the tickets and patiently waited for him to hand her back the stubs.  
  
"You guys here for the Rainbow Monkey movie?" The teen looked down at them, a little surprised. "Haven't seen many boys line up for this one."  
  
The young male trio chuckled nervously. Numbuh 4 gave Numbuh 1 a glare, not happy about the fact that the ticket taker believed this little tough guy was going to spend his evening watching a girl movie. Numbuh 1 blinked back tensely, planning to explain later that this was the only G rated movie starting at the same time as their prime target.  
  
"Here you go, have fun."  
  
Stubs back in hand the group passed the usher quickly, then glanced back to see his distracted by another patron. The coast clear they veered direction away from the toddler crowded Rainbow Monkey Theater and snuck their way to the darker, more alien one. Except for Numbuh 3 who wandered opposite her friends for the animated feature until Numbuh 4 grabbed her arm and dragged her back to them.  
  
They fanned out into the blanked room, ducking behind rows of seats, avoiding the vision of the many adults filtering in. As the theater filled the intruding youths located an empty row and claimed it for themselves. The last of the trailers flickered off the wide glimmering screen, snacks were passed out between the friends, Numbuh 4 kicked the seat in front of him as a message to the lady in the big hat to move her fat butt someplace else. Numbuh 1 glanced around, double- checking to ensure himself that no adults had seen them. Under the cover of dark, phase one of the plan had gone off successfully. Only when the opening credits unrolled on the screen did he allow himself to relax, although he did not touch his popcorn once for the entire film. Numbuh 2 on the other hand had already made a significant dent in his jumbo-sized tub of popcorn.  
  
"This is going to be so cool!" He exclaimed quietly, voice muffled by the mass of popped kernels stuffed within.  
  
Numbuh 3 fiddled in her seat, anxiously fingering the box of candy in her hands as the blood red list of names finished their morbid dance on the canvas before her. She thought back to the times before when she and the others had watched scary movies together in the tree house. The spooky zombies and silly looking monsters in those movies weren't scary at all. In fact some reminded her of her toys with their rubber faces, big googly eyes and visible zippers. But something about this movie felt different, like she could tell it wasn't going to be fun scary. She shrank away into her seat anticipating an answer. Right now the movie was kind of boring; just some teenagers in a dusty old library talking. She timidly nibbled her Skittles as the boys bordering her munched away on popcorn and soda staring intensely on the screen, eagerly awaiting the first blood of the film.  
  
It came suddenly and spurting, a knife though a bookcase into the torso of a young man.  
  
Numbuh 3 shrieked nearly jumping from her seat, candy flying from her box, colorful bite sized pieces raining down on everyone around her. She received some angered glances from her friends, but it wasn't the annoyed gleam in their eyes that bothered her. That knife looked real, that blood looked real. What happened to the rubber and ketchup she was used to? The look on that boys face as his life was so suddenly ripped away. She leaned back in her seat whimpering softly.  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~  
  
"Ooh girl, don't go in there!" Numbuh 5 warned the fictitious woman running into an abandoned house.  
  
"Man, how stupid can ya get? That's the first place 'e'll look!" Numbuh 4 threw some popcorn at the screen.  
  
A raising scream filled the theater followed by a sickening thud of a blunt object piercing flesh.  
  
"I didn't know you could do that with a spoon." Numbuh 2 mused, his eyes glued straight ahead.  
  
Other eyes at the moment were hidden by hands overlapped in green cloth. Curled up in the red velvet cushions, shivering, her lower lip quivering as she whimpered,  
  
"Is it over yet?"  
  
"Ah, ca'mon Numbuh 3, this can't possibly be scarin' ya."  
  
Numbuh 4 look at her, dissatisfied as she shook, leaf-like next to him. She lowered her hands. Her eyes were shimmering in the film light with tears threatening to flow. She sniffled and blubbered,  
  
"But it's scary! It's so scary." She hugged her knees burying her face in them.  
  
His eyes softened ever so slightly, but his face remained stern and criticizing. Leaning back in his seat he resumed watching the movie, which had just started a high- speed motorcycle chase between one of the protagonists and the mysterious bloodthirsty slasher.  
  
When the hero on the screen narrowly escaped a head-on collision with a truck, Numbuh 4 felt a gentle weight on his hand. Looking over, a warmth rushed to his face. Numbuh 3 was holding his hand. He let her take it; thankful his features where hidden in the dark, less his blushing cheeks betray him. Her grip was shaking, soft but tight. Her eyes were practically fused shut with fear, clutching the boys fingers in her own as if for dear life. She squeezed his hand tighter, he slowly began to squeeze back.  
  
"Um, Numbuh 3 --- could you let go of my hand? You're cutting off the circulation."  
  
Love hazed eyes suddenly snapped back to reality. Looking passed the terrified girl, the Aussie saw that in her terror she had also grasped the hand of Numbuh 2.  
  
She only let out a little groan releasing the pudgy hand from her own which quickly found its way back into popcorn.  
  
"Ya such a scardy cat Numbuh 3." Numbuh 4 yanked his appendage away from her grasp, his thumping heart reverting to its stone cold ways.  
  
"But it's scary." She moaned, eyes still clamped shut.  
  
"It's not scary!" He protested. "It's just a movie! There's not even anything scary happening right now!"  
  
She slowly opened her eyes and cautiously looked up at the glowing screen. --- Just in time to see a man get decapitated.  
  
"Now there is---" Numbuhs 5 and 2 said simultaneously.  
  
Frightened tears flowed like Niagara, her voice wailing loudly throughout the theater, annoying many patrons in the process. Numbuh 3 cried like any little girl would when scared out of her innocent little mind. Numbuh 4 slumped down in his seat; that heat in his face again, a small lump of guilt in the pit of his gut.  
  
"What?" he turned to Numbuh 5's narrowed eyes, "Like I knew that was gonna 'appen?!"  
  
A light coming from the aisle suddenly blinded the group. A tall figure standing over them was shining a flashlight in their eyes.  
  
"What are you kids doing in here without a parent?" Squeaking voice yelled.  
  
It was the usher, looming over the five youngsters, scanning them over with his flashlight, pausing momentarily on the sobbing girl sitting in the middle. He had been called over by a group of theater- goers complaining about the noise.  
  
Having prepared for this situation in full, Numbuh 1 confidently turned to the geeky teen.  
  
"Our chaperone is in the bathroom at the moment." He lied, flashing an assuring grin.  
  
"Oh, okay." The clueless highschooler accepted the falsehood. "But you kids better keep it down." He gave them one more look over. The chubby kid was at the moment trying to shush the crying girl and the two others at the end were giving him nasty looks.  
  
As the usher left Numbuh 1 breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed in his seat. But before the sensation of comfort could sink in, the spot light had returned.  
  
"Hey! This isn't your theater!"  
  
So the geek had a memory after all. But this wasn't the concern now.  
  
"Kids Next Door! Retreat!"  
  
To buy them some escape time the young Brit dumped Numbuh 2's empty popcorn tub over the teenager's head. Whatever unpopped kernels lingering at the bottom now falling to the floor. Blinded by the overturned vessel so abruptly slammed on his head, the usher tottered about madly trying to nab the fleeing children.  
  
"I'm calling my manager!" He threatened failingly.  
  
They escaped the mad usher and the multiplex in tact and they kept running until it was long out of sight.  
  
~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+  
  
The door to the tree house flung open as the Kids Next Door returned to their HQ. Numbuh 1 stalked in silently, hands folded behind his back.  
  
"Man, we didn't even get to see the end of the movie." Numbuh 2 complained.  
  
"We should be fortunate we saw as much as we did." Numbuh 1 said, "Imagine what might have happened had it been a school night."  
  
"Looks like we gonna have to wait fo' it to come out on video." Numbuh 5 sighed.  
  
"It's not the same." The chubby boy whined.  
  
"It was still betta' then seeing Rainbow Monkeys." Numbuh 4 concluded, dragging Numbuh 3 behind him. She had stopped crying but still had yet to uncover her eyes forcing him to lead her about like a seeing- eye dog for the entire walk home. She squeaked walking into the doorframe on her way in.  
  
"Numbuh 3, you can open your eyes now. We left the theater an hour ago." Their leader told her calmly.  
  
"Are you sure it's safe?" She quivered.  
  
"Yes, I'm pretty sure it's safe now."  
  
Slowly she lowered her hand and lets the light seep past her lids.  
  
"That movie was scary!" She wailed at the top of her lungs, half still terrified and half angry with Numbuh 1 for taking them to such a film. "I wanted to see Rainbow Monkeys! But no, you had to take us to that gory thing!"  
  
"Hey remember when the slasher pushed that guy into the wood chipper?" Numbuh 2 waxed short-term memory nostalgia.  
  
"Aw yeah, an' the eye ball flew up an' 'it the window." Numbuh 4 joined in, "That was awesome!"  
  
"Ew, you guys are gross." The Asian stuck out her tongue in protest. The boys ignored her.  
  
"An' what about that chase on the motorcycles? When the slasha' 'ad 'is knife out like this---"  
  
"Yeah, the guy drives by and you think nothing happened, but then his head rolled off!"  
  
The two placed their hands protectively over their throats and shuttered, then laughed despite the morbidity of the situation.  
  
"How could you think that was cool?" Numbuh 3 tapped her foot, looking the boys over with an upset expression.  
  
"Boys are just inta that gross gory stuff." Numbuh 5 explained, "It's one a them laws a nature or somethang."  
  
"I still think it was scary."  
  
"Relax, it was just a movie. Stuff like that couldn't happen in real life."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"C'mon girl. Yo really think yo could make the slasher come afta' everybody you know just by sayin' 'Bloody Vengeance' three times in a row? Pu-leeze."  
  
"It could happen." The timid girl said meekly.  
  
In a moment of playful malice, Numbuh 4 crept steadily over to Numbuh 3.  
  
"Aw, ya scared the slasha's gonna come an' get ya?" He teased, "Let um come. I could take 'im. In fact, I bet I could take 'im on right now." He smiled wickedly. "Bloody Vengeance."  
  
Numbuh 3's eyes widened.  
  
"Don't say that!" She screamed.  
  
"Bloody Vengeance---"  
  
"Cut it out Numbuh 4! Numbuh 1, make him stop!"  
  
"Bloody Vengeance!"  
  
She squealed and covered her eyes. When nothing seemed to have happened she carefully let herself see that nothing had changed. Everyone was still alive and there was no sign that there was a crazy killer on the loose. Although Numbuh 4 wasn't standing were he was a moment ago---  
  
"BOO!"  
  
A pair of hands clamped down on her shoulders. She screamed and spun around giving the orange figure behind her a karate kick to the side, felling him to the ground.  
  
"Ow! Numbuh 3, I was only jokin'!"  
  
She glared down at the small blond as he righted himself off the floor, shooting daggers with her eyes.  
  
"That was mean Numbuh 4!"  
  
"Ah, lighten up Numbuh 3. I didn't mean any 'arm."  
  
She continued her glare. Eyes filled with a mix of anger and fear.  
  
"But the slasher is gonna come and get us now!"  
  
He cocked his eye at her, shaggy hair obscuring his view.  
  
"There is no slasha'!" He shouted, "You'd be able ta fig-ya' that out if ya'd stop bein' such a stupid girl about it!"  
  
She pulled his hood up and yanked it over his eyes, forcing him down into a painful crouch.  
  
"You mean!" She whined, pushing on his head as he failed about, trying to get free.  
  
"Oi! Ge' offa me! Leggo!" He punched air, aiming to scare her into giving him some distance. She released his clothes and stormed off huffing to herself to some random region of the tree house. Numbuh 4 adjusted himself and found his face greeted with the angry glares of his teammates.  
  
"What?!" he demanded, "I was just tryin' ta stop 'er from bein' such a baby."  
  
"That was a bit out of line Numbuh 4." Numbuh 1 commented.  
  
"Eh, ya know I was only jokin'." 4 looked at their disappointed faces. "Right?"  
  
Numbuh 2 was leering with distain, Numbuh 5 shook her head, clucking her tongue. The blond crossed his arms frowning and grumbled,  
  
"She's probly gonna fa'get about all this in five minutes anyway."  
  
Numbuh 1 looked to his watch with a sigh, then cleared his throat to disrupt the awkward vibe in the air.  
  
"Well, it's getting late. Perhaps we should all turn in for the night?"  
  
"Whateva'." Numbuh 4 let his arms fall stiffly to his sides and stalked off to his room.  
  
The remaining kids nodded, muttering and retreated to their own rooms. They prepared for bed in the regular fashion, unaware of the thunderstorm rolling in outside.  
  
[TO BE CONTINUED] 


	2. Can I Sleep With You Tonight?

Again I don't own the KND. If I did you'd be watching this instead of reading it now wouldn't you?  
  
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Hard rain pattered down on the wooden walls as whipping winds wickedly threatened to tear leaves from their branches. Bright twisted fingers licked the air in brilliant displays accompanied by sounds a kin to the skies themselves being ripped apart. Big almond shaped eyes snapped open with the horrible din. Cozy comforter pulled closer to her face, Numbuh 3 shivered, hugging her stuffed teddy bear tight to her chest.  
  
It was so dark and spooky in her plushie crowded room. Even the familiar sight of her toys piled around her was twisted and malformed in the brief flashes of lightning that burst through the room. Why did is have to rain tonight? Why did it have to be so loud and scary? It was the perfect foreboding atmosphere for something bad to happen. The storm had started as an innocent drizzle when she was in the hamster generator blowing off the steam accumulated from her fight with Numbuh 4 by shoveling food pellets into troughs and tubes for her beloved rodents. But now sheets of rain were pummeling rooftops, shadows mimicked monsters lurking in silence. Lightning stabbed the purple hued skies. This was not a night to be alone.  
  
Gentle tapping was masked by thunder and rain. Ineffective in its quest it got slightly louder. Still nothing. Again slightly louder, this time with voice.  
  
"Numbuh 5?"  
  
The muffled voice sank slowly into the sleep- fogged mind now rousing to a waking state. Numbuh 5 groaned softly, turning over in her bed debating on whether or not the voice calling her name was real or dream.  
  
"Numbuh 5? Are you awake?"  
  
'Numbuh 5 is now.' She mentally grumbled, getting up and slipping on her hat, robe and slippers and shuffling to the door. Pulling back the beaded curtain, dark sleepy eyes were greeted by a timidly smiling face.  
  
"Numbuh 3, what are ya'll doing waking Numbuh 5 up in the middle of the night fo'?"  
  
The onyx haired girl clutched her stuffed toy close, casting her eyes down at her fuzzy bunny slippers, free hand playing with the lacy frill of her nightgown. Shyly she answered.  
  
"I got scared by the storm and couldn't get back to sleep." She looked up hopefully. "Can I sleep in your room tonight?"  
  
It took a few seconds to process the question in her sleep- addled mind, but Numbuh 5 smiled at her friend's demure request and permitted her entry.  
  
"Sho' Numbuh 5's casa es su casa."  
  
"Thanks Numbuh 5!" Numbuh 3 gave her friend a quick hug before rushing into the room and hopping onto a leopard print couch. Numbuh 5 tossed her a spare blanket before plopping down back onto her bed. Fifteen minutes passed with silence, excluding the storm outside, but nearing sleep Numbuh 3's ears picked up a clicking, scratching sounds coming from the walls.  
  
"Numbuh 5," she said softly, hugging her teddy bear "I heard something."  
  
"It was probably the rain." A drowsy voice drawled back.  
  
"It didn't sound like rain." Three shivered. A morbid memory resurfacing in her mind, making her recoil. "What if it was the slasher?"  
  
"The slasher?" Numbuh 5 sat up and looked to the other girl disbelievingly. "Don't tell Numbuh 5 you really believe all that movie mumbo jumbo."  
  
Numbuh 3 drew her blanket up to her chin and hugged her knees.  
  
"But Numbuh 4---" She began recalling her teammate's insensitive prank.  
  
"Numbuh 4 was tryin' to scare you. There's no such thing as the slasher." Numbuh 5 assured her, "It's just some dumb story made up by Hollywood writers."  
  
Three nodded but continued to fret.  
  
"But what if it was based on a true story?"  
  
Numbuh 5 rolled her eyes in the privacy of the shadow caused by her hat. The scraping sound suddenly returned making Numbuh 3 jump and shriek.  
  
"There it was again! You heard it that time right Numbuh 5?"  
  
The opposing calm to her friend's panic, Numbuh 5 flashed Three a reassuring smile.  
  
"That coulda been anything." She chimed flipping her wrist.  
  
A sudden crashing of glass echoed through the bowls of the tree house. The pinprick of panic now skipped through Numbuh 5's heart. Numbuh 3 nervously bit her finger.  
  
"That on the other hand---" the dark girl trailed off.  
  
"It's the slasher!" Numbuh 3 squeezed her teddy sniveling.  
  
Taking a moment for her heart to settle, Numbuh 5 stood walked to her companion's side. Her arms crossed sternly but her face patient and understanding.  
  
"It ain't no slasher and we gonna prove it. C'mon."  
  
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The hall was pitch with inky shadows. The only light flowing through was in the form of lightning flashes. Numbuh 3 bet her lower lip. The lights were on when she had come down this way earlier.  
  
"Why is it so spooky?" she whimpered.  
  
"The lights are out." Five said matter of factly, before stepping back into her room to retrieve a flashlight.  
  
"Do you think the slasher broke them?" Three cuddled her stuffy. The bulb of a flashlight lit the air behind her.  
  
"Yo gonna be on this all night ain't yo?" Five muttered as she led the way.  
  
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~  
Trekking slowly through the hall quickly proved itself uneventful. Numbuh 5 yawned, ennui starting to settle in. Numbuh 3 remained uncharacteristically tense, still convinced that any shadow could pop off the wall and attack her. As they reached the kitchen area the faint sounds of glass clinking and someone humming wafted delicately through the room.  
  
A round figure stood illuminated in fridge light. Expert hands of a builder busily creating a midnight snack. The pair of girls smiled at each other and quietly approached their chubby friend. Numbuh 5 gently tapped the unassuming boy on the shoulder.  
  
"Yo, Numbuh 2---"  
  
He jumped at her touch with a yelp, spinning around; gripping a baguette stuffed with lettuce, Mayo, and speckled pink luncheon meat. He swung it about wildly, cringing, back against the shelves of the open fridge.  
  
"Don't hurt me!" he cried, "I'm armed!"  
  
Numbuh 5 calmly caught the sandwich as it was about to make contact with her head, then looked it over as Numbuh 2 came to his senses.  
  
"With salami?" She cocked her brow at him as he calmed himself and withdrew his snack.  
  
"And Provolone---" he added meekly. Numbuh 3 giggled from behind Numbuh 5. Numbuh 2 closed the refrigerator door and sat at the nearby table, starting to stuff his face. Numbuh 5 put her foot up on a chair and folded her hands on her lifted knee. Numbuh 3 walked to the cupboard and retrieved a pudding cup, which she ate with her fingers as Numbuh 5 spoke.  
  
"So what yo doin' up in here at this hour of the night?"  
  
The mechanic replied casually with his mouth full.  
  
"Well, I was in my room when I heard this sound. It was like something scraping at the walls, it was kinda creepy. I spent a few minutes under my blanket hoping it would go away. But then I got worried that whatever it was was loose in the tree house, so I started looking around. But I didn't find anything, and I ended up in the kitchen anyway, so I thought why not get a snack while I was here?" He swallowed and glanced bashfully at a wet spot on the floor. "Oh, and I kinda knocked over a pickle jar over there."  
  
Numbuh 5 perched herself on the countertop, smugly grimacing. She knew there was nothing to worry about.  
  
"You see Numbuh 3, It was just Numbuh 2 getting' his self a midnight snack. Ya'll had nothing to be afraid of."  
  
Numbuh 3 nodded smiling, sucking the last bit of chocolate pudding off her fingers before throwing out the plastic cup.  
  
"We so glad it's you Numbuh 2. We thought it was the slasher."  
  
The boy stopped eating, in fact he almost dropped his sandwich at Numbuh 3's words, his eyes wide.  
  
"You, you think the slasher is here?" His voice quivered.  
  
"Not ya'll too?" Numbuh 5 sighed, "There ain't no such thing as the slasher."  
  
"But what was that scratching noise then?" Numbuh 3 asked, starting to get scared again.  
  
"You mean that wasn't you guys?" Numbuh 2 swallowed hard, completely loosing his appetite.  
  
"Uh, it wasn't you?" Numbuh 5's expression faulted.  
  
"No." Two's voice squeaked.  
  
"Then what was it?" Three gave her teddy bear a squeeze, snuggling its fuzzy head to her cheek.  
  
"It's probably some branches outside bein' blown by the wind." Five rationalized, glancing out the window.  
  
"I don't know Numbuh 5," Two faced her from his stool, nervously fidgeting in his light blue footy pajamas. "It sounded like it was coming from inside the tree house."  
  
"It's just yo imagination."  
  
"Or it IS the slasher!"  
  
"Oh, brother."  
  
"The movie started the same way. Everyone thought that those noises coming from the library basement were nothing, but then the slasher came out and started attacking people!"  
  
"It was a MOVIE yo!"  
  
Five's rationalities reached ears deafened by fear and paranoia. Two frantically looked about the room. The sudden crashes of thunder not helping the situation.  
  
"He could be hiding in the air vents, waiting for us to go back to sleep---"  
  
"Wearing his scary glowing mask---" Numbuh 3 added.  
  
"With his knife---" Two shuddered.  
  
"Or a hook---"  
  
"Or a spoon---"  
  
The frightened boy and girl shivered, huddled closely together. Numbuh 5 shrugged.  
  
"Numbuh 5 thought you liked that gory stuff."  
  
"I did when it wasn't me!" Numbuh 2 shouted. "I don't wanna die!" He hugged the nearby Numbuh 3 for security.  
  
"Me either!" She hugged back.  
  
Numbuh 5 took a deep breath. It was late, she was tired and her patience was wearing thin.  
  
"Ya'll not gonna die, because there is no slasher here."  
  
Numbuh 3 looked up with pleading eyes.  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
Five rolled her eyes.  
  
"Ok, let's say hypothetically that the slasher was real. Why would he bother chasing us?"  
  
"Because we're helpless little kids?"  
  
Five gave her friend an offended glare.  
  
"Now I've heard everythang." She took Three's hand, "C'mon, we're going back to bed. There's nothing scary out here."  
  
The girls started to leave the kitchen area heading back into the shadowy halls. Numbuh 2 stood alone for a moment baffled, until a crash of thunder and lightning jostled him.  
  
"Hey guys! Wait up!" He sprinted after them. They stopped at the sound of his call and turned, awaiting what he had to say as he caught his breath. "C, can I spend the night with you guys?" he asked with uncertainty.  
  
Numbuh 3 smiled, Numbuh 5 crossed her arms.  
  
"Ah, no! Numbuh 5 is not spendin' the night with a boy in her room!"  
  
Said boy got down on his knees.  
  
"Please Numbuh 5, just for tonight?" He pleaded sincerely.  
  
"No way!"  
  
"Aw, come on Numbuh 5," Numbuh 3 sympathized, "He scared. Besides," A wide grin graced her lips "It'll be like a sleepover!"  
  
Numbuh 5 looked at her friends and their pleading faces. It was that kind of pathetic cuteness that you can't say no to. Her stubbornness faded with a smile.  
  
"Fine, just fo' tonight. But yo'd better mind Numbuh 5's personal space."  
  
"Gee, thanks Numbuh 5, you're the coolest!" Numbuh 2 got up and ran to her side. "I get dibs on the beanbag chair!"  
  
~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~  
  
With every crack of lightning and clash of thunder Numbuhs 2 and 3 became more and more intensely frightened as they slowly made their way towards Numbuh 5's sector.  
  
"Why's it so dark down here?" Numbuh 2 trembled.  
  
"The lights are out and we don't know why." Numbuh 3 answered holding the frilly cuff of her sleeve close to her mouth.  
  
"Relax," Numbuh 5 recommended. "If somethin' bad was gonna happen, don't you think it woulda happened already?"  
  
A scratching noise resonated through and off the walls. The trio scanned the hall but saw nothing. Two and Three whimpered and huddled closer to Numbuh 5 who had the flashlight.  
  
"You mean like that?" Two asked.  
  
"Branches." Five explained pointing her light at him.  
  
The noise was gone as quickly as it had come and the young ones continued walking. As they passed a fork in the hall Numbuh 2 caught a flash of light in the corner of his eye coming from the opposite way.  
  
"Did you see that?" He squeaked.  
  
"See what?" Three shook.  
  
"That flash of light!" He whispered.  
  
"It's called lightning." Said Numbuh 5.  
  
"No, it was coming from down that way." He explained, walking back to the opening to the other passage. He looked in wondering if he'd see the flash again but instead caught a glimpse of something walk by and disappear into the shadows. "N, Numbuh f, f, five---" he quavered as he slowly took a few steps backwards. "The slasher is here!"  
  
The girls rushed to his side and gazed down the hollow hall. Empty save a few harmless shadows plastered on the walls.  
  
"The slasher huh?" Numbuh 5 looked to the boy who was still shivering.  
  
"He was here! I saw him!" He looked down the hall, and saw nothing but shadows. "---I think."  
  
"It's just the dark playing tricks on yo mind." She told him shaking her head before heading back to her room. Numbuh 2 lingered, staring down the corridor.  
  
"I could have sworn I saw something." He turned to Numbuh 3 before walking down the hallway; she followed him cautiously, double-checking the darkness for any moment. They peered down the way he had seen the phantom go but still nothing was there.  
  
"I guess Numbuh 5 was right." He decided, "It was probably my imagination."  
The pair turned to head back the way they came. In the direction they faced a shadowy figure entered their field of vision. Muted with fear, they stood in shock of it. Its cloaked body frighteningly still, its back facing them. Softly Numbuh 2 took a step back, preparing to run. His hand tightly grasped to Numbuh 3's. His motion caused the floorboard beneath him to creak suddenly.  
  
The figure spun around quickly, the tail of its cloak billowing in the wind it caused. Its face was lit up like a beacon, erasing all sign of facial feature that could deem it human.  
  
Two and Three screamed loud enough to rival the thunder and ran to say the same for the lightning. Numbuh 5 stopped in mid pace upon hearing their cries and turned only to embrace the impact of her comrades crashing into her. A look of annoyance past over her face as the two hugged her arms muttering incoherently about something "spooky."  
  
"What did Numbuh 5 say about personal space?" She gave them glares menacing enough to be felt from beneath her hat brim.  
  
Numbuh 2 sheepishly removed himself.  
  
"Sorry Numbuh 5."  
  
"We saw the slasher! He's here!" Numbuh 3 buried herself into Numbuh 5's chest.  
  
"The slasher?" Five looked to them doubtfully.  
  
"Yes!" Two flailed his arms. "He's here and he's going to get us! He's down the hall! With his cloak and scary glowing face and everything!"  
  
Five placed her hands on her hips as Numbuh 3 withdrew from her hug sniffling.  
  
"C'mon, if you really saw the slasher why didn't he attack you?"  
  
Silence to ponder the thought.  
  
"Well," Numbuh 2 contemplated, "Uh, because, ---we weren't alone." He smiled remembering this rule, "The slasher never attacks people in pairs--- " He paused, his face faulting, "Unless they're kissing." He stuck out his tongue disgusted. Numbuh 3 did the same.  
  
"The slasher is weird." She commented.  
  
"So as long as the three of us stick together the "slasher" will be no problem." Numbuh 5 stated as she starting to walk in the opposite direction.  
  
"Where are you going?" Numbuh 2 asked.  
  
"To find yo slasher." She said slipping around the corner. Two and Three looked to each other before chasing after her. They found her probing the haunted hall with her flashlight. Making sure every shadow was accounted for. "Numbuh 5 don't see nothin'." She told them.  
  
"Well, he was here." Numbuh 2 defended himself.  
  
Five chuckled to herself.  
  
"Maybe he decided to go after some dumb teenagers instead."  
  
"What if he went after one of the others?" Three worried.  
  
"Yeah, Numbuh 4's room is down that way." Numbuh 2 gasped, "What if the slasher went after him?"  
  
"Fine," Five submitted, "We can go check on him." They began to go down the proposed direction when the mysterious scratching noise once again made itself know.  
  
"He's here! Run!" Numbuh 2 panicked.  
  
"Hold up!" Five held out her arm. "There has got to be a reasonable explanation fo' all this."  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, "we're all doomed."  
  
"Come on, we can't be lettin' some phantom scare us! We don't even know if there's really anyone even here. Now look at yo'selves. What would Numbuh 1 say if he saw ya'll like this? Slasher or no slasher we've faced tougher thangs then this."  
  
Numbuh 2 dug the toe of his footy pajamas into the floor. His face downcast in shame.  
  
"I guess you're right Numbuh 5."  
  
"Yeah," Numbuh 3 agreed, "We were being silly."  
  
Five smiled, her patience returning.  
  
"S'ok, now let's go find out what that noise is so we can go back to bed."  
  
They traced the echoes down the hall in hushed tones. The rattling got softer until they reached a split in the antechamber were it stopped completely.  
  
"Where'd it go?" Numbuh 2 asked nervously.  
  
"It stopped." Numbuh 3 whispered.  
  
"Guess it was nothing." Numbuh 5 whispered back.  
  
"But we all heard it right?" Two wrung his hands.  
  
"This is spooky." Three hugged her toy.  
  
"Maybe it was just our minds playing tricks on us." Five began to laugh softly. "Heh, you guys actually got Numbuh 5 to start believing the slasher might actually be in the tree house." She smiled at how irrational they were all being, taking a few steps away from her teammates. "Imagine the slasher being here, heh, that's just---"  
  
A flash of light from the neighboring hall stopped her words. Too isolated to be lightning. A dark streak suddenly leapt from the passageway, its cloak billowing out behind it as it landed on Numbuh 5. Forcing her to the ground, pinning her under its strength. Two flashlights hit the floor.  
  
[To Be Continued] 


	3. The Treehouse Phantom

I still don't own anything KND related. So you don't sue me. I'm not making any money off of this.  
  
=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
  
Numbuh 5 struggled under the weight of the figure pinning her down. The first thing she noticed was how surprisingly small it was. She opened her eyes to behold her attacker. Still bathed in shadow, she could make out the outline of its body. Its face was dark but she could tell its teeth were gritted tightly. One hand was occupied holding closed the cloak it was wearing while the other was repeatedly punching her in the chest. Punching? Since when does the slasher punch? Her fear subsided despite the pain being inflicted on her and started to sit up, getting closer to the face of the aggressive form.  
  
The creature let out a grunt and began using both fists punching and trying to force her back to the ground. She could hear a soft accent in its voice, which became gruff with its familiarity as it finally spoke.  
  
"Try ta sneak up on me will ya! Well, you got ya self anotha' thing comin'!"  
  
Numbuhs 3 and 2 stopped their cowering. They knew this voice. Numbuh 5 quickly reached up and tugged at the top of the "cloak" which swiftly fluttered off its wearer's head and shoulders revealing the corn flake halo of hair of a very confused little boy.  
  
"Numbuh 4! If I wasn't so tired right now I'd kick yo butt!" Numbuh 5 shouted with a little snarl.  
  
"Numbuh 5?" The now identified Aussie exclaimed with surprise equal to his teammate's anger.  
  
In response she curtly pushed him off her torso. His petite body fell a foot away and landed with a light thud. He yelled in protest but she ignored him, readjusting her hat and robe. He too got up and rewrapped the long sheet he was wearing around his body. It wasn't a cloak, just a blanket he had draped over him, cloak-like.  
  
During These quick passing events, the mood for both Numbuh 2 and Numbuh 3 had changed from fear, to shock, to relief, and then to annoyance and anger. Their faces showed this as the duo loomed over their shorter friend.  
  
"What do you think you're doing Numbuh 4?" Demanded Numbuh 3, a hint of hurt and betrayal in her sternness.  
  
"Yeah" Numbuh 2 piped, poking Four in the chest.  
  
Numbuh 4 took a step back, a defensive gleam in his eyes.  
  
"What am I doing? What are *you* doing?"  
  
Numbuh 3 crossed her arms, glaring at him. Her enforcing stance loosing a bit of effectiveness with a teddy bear in the fold.  
  
"We were looking for the slasher." She told him glowering.  
  
Numbuh 2 leaned closer to Four, his eyes furiously narrowed behind the tinted lenses of his goggles.  
  
"And it looks like we found him."  
  
Four wasn't sure what to make of his partners' unsettling newfound hatred for him. It wasn't like he had really hurt Numbuh 5 when he had jumped on her. He looked to them with confusion.  
  
"What?" He flustered, "The slasha'? You mean like the movie?"  
  
Numbuh 3 frowned at him.  
  
"How could you Numbuh 4? Wasn't scaring me before enough for you?" She pouted, clinging to her bear. Numbuh 4 raised an eyebrow as his mind clicked to a blank.  
  
"What are you talking about?!" He demanded, waving his arms beneath his blanket.  
  
"Drop the act Numbuh 4." Two fingered him again. "You've been following us around all night trying to scare us!"  
  
"No I'm not!" Four yelled, sounding appalled. The look in their eyes told him they didn't believe one Australian accented word.  
  
"Then why are you wrapped in your blanket like that?" Numbuh 3 pointed out his sheet swathed over him like a cape.  
  
"I was cold!" He lied. He surely wasn't going to tell her the truth about the blanket, but in all honesty he never intended to scare her.  
  
"And why were you holding your flashlight near your face so it looked like it was glowing?" Numbuh 2 asked picking the flashlight off the ground and holding it under Numbuh 4's chin replicating the glowing effect that had scared them earlier. Four snarled and plucked the light stick from his comrade's chubby hand.  
  
"For shame Numbuh 4." Numbuh 3 scolded, waging her finger at him.  
  
"I was holding it like that so I could see betta'!" Again they did not buy his explanations. Then they unleashed the big question.  
  
"And what were you doing out of bed?"  
  
There was a beat. Four knew he had to guard his answer carefully or his cover would be blown.  
  
"I 'erd a noise, an' I went ta see what it was. The next thing I know you guys are sneakin' up on me an' nah ya accusing me a bein' the slasha'!"  
  
There was another pause, this time for computing the boy's answer. Numbuh 2 leaned in closer to Numbuh 4's face.  
  
"So you're not trying to scare us?" he inquired, his voice thick with suspicion, eyeing the small blond.  
  
"Not on purpose." Four was getting angry at this interrogation. He decided to get the pressure off himself with one of his own. "Hey, how do I know you guys weren't trying to scare me?"  
  
Numbuh 2 quickly pulled away from Four, his eyes suddenly wide.  
  
"Why would we?" He asked, shocked to be so rapidly accused. Numbuh 4 smiled slightly at his friend taking a taste of his own medicine.  
  
"Ta get back at me fa' scarin' Numbuh 3 with that whole 'bloody vengeance' crud." The aussie explained.  
  
"Well, that would have been funny---" Numbuh 3 grinned entertaining the thought of playful revenge, but her face hastily returned to her angry grump. "But we wouldn't do that to you because we you friends."  
  
"Yeah, some friends." Four scoffed and grumbled to himself, "Sneakin' up on me---"  
  
"We weren't sneaking up on you, we thought you were the slasher." Numbuh 2 defended. "Right Numbuh 5?"  
  
They all turned to the Quiet One who up until now had been living up to her nickname. She was leaning, back up against the wall, head down, breathing softly. She snapped back to the land of waking at the calling of her name.  
  
"Huh? Wuh?" She mumbled groggily, "Oh, whateva'," she yawned, "Can we go back ta bed nah?"  
  
Numbuh 3 stomped to her sleepy friend's side.  
  
"Yeah," she answered rudely. Rudeness of course directed at Numbuh 4. "I'm not scared any more of Numbuh 4's dirty prank."  
  
He frowned at her, a jumble of feelings stirring inside him.  
  
"It wasn't a prank!" He felt a tightness in his throat. He wanted to tell her the truth. He hated her being angry at him, but his stubbornness would never allow it. Wallabee Beatles never apologizes to anyone.  
  
The girls started back to the dormitory area of their arboreal home, Numbuh 2 close behind. Numbuh 5 paused and looked to him and Three.  
  
"Duz this mean ya'll not sleepin' in Numbuh 5's room no mo'?" She slurred.  
  
"Well," Numbuh 2 gave this some thought. But the intensely loud thunder crack that happened to assault at the moment decided things for him. "I wouldn't go that far!" He shrieked, huddling close to the girls.  
  
"Fine," sighed Five, "Let's go."  
  
They resumed their sojourn down the hall. Numbuh 4 stayed in his spot watching them, clenching and unclenching his fists under his blanket cloak. Heart, brain, pride, gut, all screaming different emotions at him to feel, but he pressed them down into a tight lump, causing them to mix and bubble until they became confused and monochrome, bursting forth as a furious rant.  
  
"Ha! Ya scardy cats! I'm goin' back ta my room all by my self cause I'm not scared a nothing! Not like you guys, scared a ya own shadows. Thinkin' I'm the slasha'. Ha! Ya just lookin' fa a scapegoat cause ya too ashamed ta admit ya scared!"  
  
The pressure released, he felt better, but he could feel more starting to build up. He hated the all too familiar sensation. Standard procedure for dealing with his emotions; bury them, swallow them down until he couldn't hold them anymore, then allow them to explode, either through his mouth or his fists, although sometimes he confused the two during the eruption.  
  
He glared down the hallway as his teammates started to walk out of sight, he then turned down the other hall to return to his room. It was a dark trek; his wing too had lost its power. Holding his flashlight close to his face, hand shaking with rage and another emotion he refused to acknowledge.  
  
"Stupid guys." He grumbled, "Believin' in the slasha an' that cruddy movie. Blamin' me on them bein' scared. Well, I don't care about them. Don't need them, no sir. I got all I need right 'ere. Sure showed them, sneakin' up on me. Anythin' else tries ta sneak up on me they're gettin' their buns handed ta them by yours truly. Then we'll see what's really scary. Cause I ain't scared, no way. Not a shadows an' not a dumb movies. Even if it was scary---"  
  
He stopped himself. His wandering mind almost confessing to the darkness. Another peal of thunder and lightning tore through the tree house. Four bit his lower lip but was unable to suppress the whimper that escaped him.  
  
"Just lightnin'." He assured himself. "Nothin' ta be afraid of. No reason ta be scared--- I'm NOT scared! Just be cool, justa little thunda'. No need ta be scared a thunda'. I AM thunda'! Thunda' from down unda' that's what I am."  
  
He pulled his blanket tighter around him, trying to calm his tittering nerves. Sure, when he first heard the crash he could have grabbed a sweater and gotten dressed. But a freshly woken mind tainted with panic and fear doesn't think very clearly, especially one as impulsive as his. Instead he had grabbed that blanket to hide himself. It felt like a warm hug, an embrace of comfort that kept his hidden fear somewhat under control, as well as did the important job of hiding his lean, scrawny arms.  
  
The winds outside picked up, slamming millions of fat raindrops onto the roof and walls. Four stopped to listen, telling himself that rain was nothing to fear. He felt shamed for being afraid to begin with. He was the tough one, the enforcer, the one everyone relied on to protect them. Now he felt that horrible doubt gnawing at the back of his mind, wondering if he was weak for being scared. No. He couldn't be weak. If he was weak, he was nothing. He forced the doubt into his stubborn space along with all the other feelings he didn't want to deal with. Now he wanted to punch something.  
  
"Nobody messes with thunda'." He continued, "No, they mess with thunda' they're playin' with fire. An' anybody messin' with fire's gonna get burned!" He released his anger on a nearby wall, making a nice dent in it.  
  
The wall responded with a loud scratching noise rattling throughout. As if his punch had disturbed something alive hiding behind the planks. It scrambled around until it surrounded him, untraceable in source.  
  
"Who's tha'?" Four demanded from the nothingness around him. "Show ya self! I'm warnin' you! Ya don't wanna mess with me!"  
  
The scratching continued and sounded as if it was getting louder, closer. Whatever it was could be right on top of him and he wouldn't know it until it was too late. He didn't want to know it. So he ignored everything his pride was telling him; he ran.  
  
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+  
  
The storm had picked up within the last few minutes as Numbuh 2 had noticed. He was currently holding onto Numbuh 5's shoulder much to her annoyance, but she protested not. A long as the slasher problem was over and they could go to bed she wouldn't have cared if she had to carry the tubby lad. Numbuh 3 walked behind them busying herself with her teddy bear. The fierce winds outside rocked the tree house slightly, but not enough to be felt by the denizens inside. Numbuh 2 tremored fearfully. The threat of being attacked was gone, but he wasn't going to take any chances in dropping his guard. Shadows were still spooky, jumping around with lightning at them. Thunder roared like a fearsome beast, rattling nerves. He was still jumpy as anything, pessimistically fearing the worst could still happen, but he tried to collect himself. At least he didn't have to worry about the slasher anymore. He hoped. The hall suddenly lit up behind them with a dim glow. Numbuh 2 yelped as the trio turned, accidentally knocking the flashlight from Numbuh 5's hand.  
  
"Thought you guys could use a body guard." Numbuh 4 stood there pointing his flashlight at them. The others couldn't tell how tightly he had his blanket drawn about him or how his eyes nervously quivered beneath his sloppy bangs.  
  
"Go away Numbuh 4." Numbuh 3 snapped, "We don't want you to body guard us."  
  
"Yeah, you'll just try to scare us some more." Numbuh 2 added just as mean.  
  
'Great, what was the point of coming to them if they still hate you?' Numbuh 4 thought, his emotions churning inside him. It was easier to push them away in the presents of his friends though. Their judging eyes gave him incentive to hide the feelings that made him feel weak and small as opposed to when he was alone with these sensations and was forced to face their company.  
  
"I wasn't doin' nothin'!" He protested.  
  
"So you just came out of the goodness of your heart to protect us from the boogieman." Numbuh 2 spat with sarcasm, "Except that the boogieman was YOU."  
  
"Ooh, I'll give you a somethin' ta be scared of." Four balled his fist, anger rising.  
  
"And what were yo gonna protect us from?" Numbuh 5 piped in, more trying to change the subject then having any kind of malice.  
  
"There might be something runnin' around 'ere that we don't know 'bout." Four tried to explain without directing attention to the quiver in his voice. Only the owner of some almond shaped eyes heard it, and it began to soften her demeanor.  
  
"I don't believe you Numbuh 4." Numbuh 2 put his hands on his hips. "You've been playing your joke on us all night. It's getting old.  
  
"I'm not playin' any kind a joke!" The blond yelled back. "Do I look like I planned ta run around scarin' you guys? I mean, look at me. I'm in my cruddy unda' pants!"  
  
He dropped the blanket from his shoulders allowing his teammates to see that underneath all he was wearing was a white wife-beater, dark blue boxer shorts and nothing but thick white socks on his feet. Numbuh 3 couldn't help but giggle. Four quickly picked up the blanket and re-draped it over himself, burying half his face in the folds to hide his reddening cheeks. Numbuh 2 eyed his friend warily. Pants or no pants, Numbuh 4 still could be trying to trick them.  
  
"I'm not sure---" the pilot began before he was interrupted by the mysterious scraping sound filling the air again. Numbuh 4 covered his mouth so his whimpers wouldn't be heard.  
  
"Not this again." Numbuh 5 moaned.  
  
"It's not funny anymore Numbuh 4 so you can just cut it out." The porky one said.  
  
"It isn't me!" Four shouted, scanning the surroundings nervously. "Somethin's out there."  
  
Two glared seriously at his friend, expecting a confession but instead found the fear the blond was trying so hard to conceal in his eyes and found it reflected in his own.  
  
"C, come on Numbuh 4." Two's voice shuttered, "We, we know it's you."  
  
"I'm not doin' it!" The Aussie yelled back.  
  
"Numbuh 5 thinks Numbuh 4 is tellin' the truth."  
  
"Then if it's not Numbuh 4 then what is it?" Two began to shiver with fear.  
  
"How the heck am I supposed ta know?" Four waved his arms madly.  
  
A short thunder-burst entered the fray, accompanied by a strobe of lightning and followed by a scream.  
  
Numbuh 3 pointed wide-eyed at what had given her such a fright. The others turned in time to catch a large, monstrous shadow rearing up in the glow of the fallen flashlight. Another lightning flash, then it vanished. The quartet gasped at the sudden appearance and disappearance of the frightening projection and huddled together until they were certain it was truly gone.  
  
"Ok, Numbuh 5 is officially freaked." The dark girl announced strongly before cautiously going over to her flashlight and picking it up.  
  
Numbuh 3 quivered, hugging her teddy bear closer then ever.  
  
"Are you sure that wasn't you Numbuh 4?" She whispered.  
  
"I told ya! It wasn't me!" he shouted back. She nodded, removing her teddy bear from her embrace and swiftly used it to bop Numbuh 4 on the head.  
  
"Ey! What was that for?!" He snarled rubbing where she had been smacked.  
  
"It's your fault the slasher is here!" She scolded.  
  
"What?! Ey! If I 'ad known that 'ole 'bloody vengeance' thing really worked I wouldn'a done it!"  
  
"Let's try to calm down here." Numbuh 2 said, mostly for himself rather then the others. "Remember, the slasher won't attack people in groups so as long as we're all together we'll be fine."  
  
Numbuh 5 nodded at his logic. That's what always worked in the movies. And although she didn't really believe what was loose in the tree house was in reality the slasher, she didn't want to take any changes with anyone's safety. She then gasped, a sudden realization hitting her mind.  
  
"Uh, in case you didn't notice, not all of us are in the group."  
  
The others turned to her and quickly saw what she was talking about--- The member not in their mists.  
  
"Numbuh 1!"  
  
Numbuh 3 quaked in her bunny slippers.  
  
"He could be in trouble."  
  
Numbuh 4 grit his teeth, with determination.  
  
"We gotta help him!"  
  
The foursome ran in the direction of the main sector of the tree house where their beloved leader's quarters lay.  
  
"Man, we should have gone to Numbuh 1 when this whole trouble got started." Said Numbuh 5.  
  
"We would have thought to check on Numbuh 1 if Numbuh 4 hadn't been running around trying to scare us." Numbuh 2 glanced back at his mop-topped companion.  
  
"Fa the last time! I wasn't tryin' ta scare you!" Four shouted desperately, frustration brimming in his words. "If anythin' it was you guys who scared the livin' crud outta me!" Hands swiftly clasped over a mouth too big for its own good, then dropped down as the other kids turned to stare. Did he just say that? After the denying and hiding the truth, did he just admit everything in one misplaced rant? 'Just play it cool.' He thought to himself 'Maybe they didn't 'ear that.'  
  
"You were scared Numbuh 4?" Numbuh 3 asked, her voice soft and sympathetic.  
  
"No!" He denied, "I'm not scared. You guys surprised me, that's what I meant ta say. Surprised, not scared." His voice was stubborn, but his wide expressive eyes told them the truth.  
  
"Gee Numbuh 4, why didn't tell us you were scared?" Numbuh 2 dropped his suspicious guard and showed his friend full sympathy.  
  
"I'm not scared!" The Aussie shouted back. A quick crash of thunder made him jump, giving away his rattled nerves. "Stupid storm!"  
  
Numbuh 3 laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Aw, it's ok Numbuh 4. We were all scared. You wanna hug Mr. Snugglebear?" She held out the stuffed animal at arms length for the boy. He let out a groan pushing the plush away from his face.  
  
"Eh, no thanks Numbuh 3."  
  
"Yo, we gonna check on Numbuh 1 or not?"  
  
Numbuh 5 was already a good distance away from the group. She only yielded to make sure they were still behind her. Numbuh 2 sped up his sprint to catch up with her, Three and Four close behind him.  
  
"Numbuh 5, wait up! We can't risk getting spilt up or the slasher might get us!"  
  
Five turned and face the others, arms akimbo.  
  
"Would you make up yo mind? Is the slasher followin' us or goin' after Numbuh 1?"  
  
Numbuh 2 debated in his mind which rule of horror movie logic applied here. After a few moments he meekly stated his answer.  
  
"I---don't know."  
  
"Stupid movie." Numbuh 4 mumbled, sticking close to Numbuh 3, "Stupid storm, stupid slasha'.---"  
  
A low creak droned through the house, stealing breath from the four children. The now too familiar scratching followed now sounding louder then ever.  
  
"Oh no---" Numbuh 2 trembled.  
  
Numbuh 5 prepared to console her companions but before she could speak something caught her attention that made her gasp.  
  
"Guys---"  
  
The remaining trio looked to where their capped friend's eyes were locked. Hearts leapt seeing what was responsible for her startled expression. Outside the window a dark figure stood, silently peering in from the catwalk exterior. It's form distorted by surrounding shadows. All the kids could really make out was an arm repeatedly tapping the glass.  
  
"Looks like it's tryin' ta get in." Numbuh 4 whispered.  
  
"Maybe if we stand really still it won't see us and go away." Numbuh 2 stood petrified. The others followed suit. Staying close to the wall, unmoving save for their trembles of fear. Numbuh 3 squeezed her teddy bear, whimpering quietly, her eyes shimmering with fear, growing more intense with every tap and scrape against the glass. Numbuh 4 looked into those dark, glittering, beautiful orbs with pity and guilt. Then ahead at the intruder trying to smash its way inside. If this was the slasher, he knew what it wanted and why it was here. He looked back up at Numbuh 3 knowing what had to be done.  
  
"Uh, Numbuh 3?" he said delicately.  
  
"Yeah?" She gazed down at him, noticing how he held his head was down so that his eyes were hidden. His hands fiddled with the blanket around him.  
  
"I, um, I'm sorry I used that 'ole 'bloody vengeance thing ta scare you. I shouldn'a done that."  
  
"It's ok." She whispered back. He raised his head slightly.  
  
"I didn't mean ta do any 'arm, honest I didn't. But nah weh all in danga' an' it's all because a me." His voice had more determination then remorse as he allowed his blanket to slide off his shoulders to the ground. He picked it up and handed it to Numbuh 2. "Hold this." Then he walked to the other window.  
  
"What are you doing?" Numbuh 2 shouted.  
  
Four was silent a moment. He had many reasons explaining why he was going to do this act of insanity. Pride, responsibility, guilt, retribution for self-loathing, and that nameless feeling that made his heart soft and warm whenever Numbuh 3 smiled.  
  
He carefully opened the second hall window, a few feet from the intruder. Rain began to blow in through the open portal, wind pushing back his hair, revealing his hardened eyes.  
  
"Where are you going Numbuh 4?!" His portly friend shouted again. He looked to his companions, already climbing out the window.  
  
"Ta take care a this freak m'self."  
  
[TO BE CONTINUED] 


	4. To The Rescue!

The cold wind prickled against his bare skin and rain seeped into his scant clothes. He suppressed the urge to shiver, eyeing his target with full hatred. The figure had not yet noticed him and it stood there, eerily silent. He still had the element of surprise on his side and he planned to use it to his best advantage. Nobody threatened his friends without paying. With a roaring battle cry, Numbuh 4 took a flying leap at the mysterious form.  
  
"Be careful Numbuh 4!" Numbuh 3 shouted from the sanctuary of the tree house.  
  
The kids could only watch through the small windows leading outside as their friend risked his life in pouring rain. The two forms swung past the glass crashing with a loud thump. The mystery form remained standing after knocking Four out of their field of vision. They ran to the window peering through the glass, making sure their friend had landed safely.  
  
He quickly sat up, his back drenched from landing in a puddle. Glaring up at his opponent whom loomed there solid, silently mocking him. Numbuh 4 snarled and charged once again, throwing his fist out to assault. Contact with this shadowy foe was painful, like punching a brick wall. What kind of inhuman monster had flesh unyielding to the force of another? In response to the attack the figure teetered backwards slightly then swung its thin long arm towards Four's head. The boy maneuvered back bending into a flip that repelled off the wooden catwalk into a full bodied double kick. The shadow lurched to the side but came back with driving force. Numbuh 4 had to jump away to avoid the full body slam. The wet phantom came swinging back; apparently in another attempt to body check the boy. Four took the blow with a full frontal block, his stance sliding slightly but not knocking over.  
  
His friends cheered him from the safety of the tree house urging him to continue his good streak of battle savvy. Numbuh 2 hollered happily as Numbuh 4 jump kicked their inky intruder. Numbuh 3 waved her arms excitedly, filling the room with her pep and glee.  
  
"Go Numbuh 4! Kick his butt!"  
  
"Yeah! You show that slasher who's boss!"  
  
Lightning backlit the battle, illuminating the otherwise pitch war-zone. Numbuh 5 looked on, mute. There was something odd about this fight. Something off in the way the shadowy opponent of Numbuh 4 acted. It continued to move in a swaying fashion, remaining in a single spot before the second window. A bizarre behavior considering how much Numbuh 4 was jumping, running and leaping around utilizing ass much of the catwalk space as possible. It was as if the slasher was hanging off of something, dangling there moving only to the will of the wind, rain and Newton's law. She watched more closely as a strobe of lightning cracked the dark hued sky in the distance. With this lighted backdrop she saw her answer. She cocked her brow in disbelief and walked over to the open window.  
  
Rain weighted hair hung in his eyes, but it only hid the narrow glare focused on his opponent. Between the bloated strands he carefully sized up the creature housed in the darkness of the night storm. So far he had been unable to knock this guy over, But Numbuh 4 was never the one to give up easily. He was going to take this freak down no matter what. His friends were depending on it. With a strong running leap Numbuh 4 latched himself onto the phantom's upper half in an attempt to pull it down. The figure flailed about in circles as the boy manipulated his weight against it. He heaved mightily and with a loud cracking sound his foe plummeted forward landing with a hollow cluck on the ground.  
  
"Ha! Gotcha now!" He hollered triumphantly, pummeling the fallen form. "Take this! And that! And Whammo!" he didn't care how stiff and hard the body was, he was too busy brimming in victory to notice.  
  
Numbuh 5 stuck her head out the window, rain pattering down on her hat. She didn't want to ruin Numbuh 4's moment but he had to find out eventually.  
  
"Numbuh 4, you do realize yo beatin' the tar out of a fallen tree branch right?"  
  
Four stopped in mid punch, his heart sank in disbelief. Did she just say he was beating up a *what*? He stood, clearing his sodden hair from his eyes looking over the prone figure on the catwalk. Numbuh 5 shone her flashlight on the unmoving form revealing the wood grain and bark that encased it. Leaf clusters glistening with rain that in darkness had resembled a coat of some kind. Numbuh 4 could feel a disappointed embarrassment well up inside him, only equaled by the cold on his skin. His friends had stopped cheering. There was a moment of silence save for the rain and thunder. He held his lower lip between his teeth, inhaling slowly, mentally cursing. Raindrops running down his arms, dripping off his raw knuckles. In a matter of seconds he had dropped from savior to fool.  
  
"Well, I ---umm---" He stammered, looking the broken log over. He kicked it and replied with an odd calmness. "Ah, crud."  
  
Five shook her head, shaking off beads of water stuck to her hat. She called to him.  
  
"Get yo butt in here befo' you get sick."  
  
She pulled her head back into the dry enclosure and waited for him with an outstretched hand that he didn't take. He climbed slowly back in, quieter then normal. Looking smaller then he usually did. His clothing sopping wet, dripping with steady flow. Hair hanging low over his eyes like a golden mop. He rubbed his arms, gritting teeth that threatened to chatter, unaware that his lips were starting to turn blue. He glanced to the ground letting out a stuttering whimper, feeling as pathetic as he looked.  
  
"Look at the bright side," Numbuh 2 smiled optimistically, "It wasn't the slasher."  
  
Numbuh 4 made a drawn out grunt, dangling his lean arms at his sides, emotions readable on his silent face. Numbuh 3 took the balled up blanket from Numbuh 2 and gently draped it over the shivering boy's shoulders. Smiling sweetly she took him into her embrace, laying her cheek upon his soggy head. He moaned softly, wrapping the comforter tighter around him.  
  
"Don't be sad Numbuh 4," She cooed, "You were very brave fighting that branch."  
  
He wanted so much to remain in her arms, the wonderful warmth spreading through him. But he was too disappointed with himself to start feeling soft now. His heart thumped away in his chest pleading with him to stay like this just a little longer. But he knew it wasn't right. He mentally steeled himself, urging his pity-lust to wane. He pulled his body away from hers, gently pushing her so she wouldn't follow. A chill washed through him as he deprived himself of her comfort and warmth.  
  
"Ey, none a that mushy stuff."  
  
Numbuh 5 stared out the now closed window at the waving tree branches outside. The pervious events, as interesting as they were, could not stop her from feeling blasé.  
  
"Numbuh 5 told ya'll it was branches."  
  
"Stupid cruddy branches. Lookin' like the slasha'." Numbuh 4 grumbled moodily.  
  
Numbuh 2 chortled as the companions started again down the hall.  
  
"Yeah, but when you think about it, it was kind of funny."  
  
Numbuh 4 kicked Numbuh 2 in the ankle. It was one of those impulses caused by the alchemy of his emotions. He felt no remorse, stalking past the rotund boy. From his stiff demeanor Numbuh 2 got the hint that Numbuh 4 did not share in his ideas of humor.  
  
+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+  
  
A darkened fist paused inches from the closed door. Numbuh 5 wondered if it was right to disturb Numbuh 1 if he was still sleeping. Perhaps it would be better if they just opened the door and peeked in to see if he was all right.  
  
"How should we wake him up?" She asked the others.  
  
The boys shrugged and murmured uncertainly. Numbuh 3 put her hand to her chin, thinking. A blissful smile spread on her lips before calling out playfully.  
  
"Hey Numbuh 1!"  
  
Her companions cringed at her sudden lack of tact. They rushed to shush her up before she could make more noise. The creak of hinges cut through the air, absorbing all attention. Four heads turned to the door that has freshly opened and the young figure standing within.  
  
Numbuh 1 stood before his teammates clad in red silk pajamas and brown slippers. He held his sunglasses at his side in one hand while rubbing his sleepy eyes with the other. He yawned before slipping on his shades and glared at his cohorts.  
  
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked thickly.  
  
"Don't look at me." Numbuh 5 endorsed "Ask Scooby, Shaggy and Velma over there." She pointed to the three behind her.  
  
Numbuh 2 gave her a confused look.  
  
"Which one of us is Scooby?"  
  
Numbuh 1 cocked his elliptical head marching over to his crewmates.  
  
"All right, what is going on around here?" He eyed them awaiting an answer. He found himself assaulted by a pandemonium of merging voice as the trio recounted the past events individually, all at once.  
  
"Well there was this scratching noise---and Numbuh 5 said it was nothing but--- went ta investigate--- in the kitchen anyway---snuck up on me---this big shadow---then Numbuh 4---it wasn't my fault---all flashy---we thought you---but it was really a tree branch---someone could a told me--- really funny but---"  
  
"HOLD IT!"  
  
The loud British accent severed the chain of clamor. The trio stopped their raucous chattering and directed their attention respectfully to their leader.  
  
"Let's try this again shall we?" He stared them down, "Now, why are you all up at this hour? Why are you all here? And---why is Numbuh 4 dripping?"  
  
"Oh, sorry." Noticing the puddle he was making, Numbuh 4 shook his head, splattering everyone with wet like a sheepdog fresh from a bath. Numbuh 3 giggled blocking the spray.  
  
"You see we heard some noises and got kind of scared," Numbuh 2 sheepishly explained, "When we went to see what it was I guess we all jumped to a lot conclusions."  
  
Numbuh 1 crossed his arms.  
  
"And those would be?"  
  
Goggled eyes were downcast in shame.  
  
"We thought the slasher from the movie was in the tree house."  
  
Thin eyebrows poked up over the dark glasses. Numbuh 1 shook his head and sighed.  
  
"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." He began to pace back and forth before the row. "I'd like to think that you all would have more common sense then to believe in the poppycock you see in movies. As members of the Kids Next Door I should be able to rely on your bravery and rationality in even the smallest of situations.  
  
"But what about the spooky shadows?" Numbuh 3 questioned.  
  
"And the scraping noise?" Furthered Numbuh 2.  
  
Numbuh 1 rolled his eyes.  
  
"Hello! This IS a tree house we're living in. You can expect branches to make noises and shadows during a storm. If someone where trying to break in for an attack don't you think the defense array would have notified us?"  
  
The others nodded in agreement. Numbuh 1 faced his friends with a satisfied grin.  
  
"Now, why don't you all go back to bed? Some of us were sleeping through all this nonsense before you came here."  
  
He stood there, waiting for them to leave. The group glanced at one another with hesitation, fidgeting and averting their eyes from their leader, who was now getting frustrated by their baffling lack of movement.  
  
"Well, what are you still standing around for?"  
  
Numbuh 2 stepped forward, playing with his hands, glancing periodically back at his friends as he spoke to the bald boy before him.  
  
"Uh, well, we were kinda wondering---since we're all here anyway, and we'd feel safer staying together---what we're trying to ask is---well, could---could we sleep with you?"  
  
Behind the dark lenses Numbuh 1's eyes widened. He leaned forward lifting his brow.  
  
"You're kidding right?"  
  
"Please Numbuh 1" Numbuh 3 pleaded.  
  
The Englishman folded his arms authoritatively.  
  
"Out of the question. You should be able to handle sleeping by yourselves." His sardonic tone was caustic to their already fragile prides.  
  
Numbuh 1 turned and headed back to his room, his teammates regretting having woken him up.  
  
"If you happen to see the slasher or the boogieman or whomever, go tell him to bother the other figments of your imagination. Now good night."  
  
He gave one last glare to his embarrassed teammates and was about to slam the door when Numbuh 5 stuck her head in.  
  
"Hey, what's that?"  
  
Numbuh 1 snapped his attention to her.  
  
"What's what?"  
  
A wry smile curved on the capped girl's face, a bemused twinkle in her eye.  
  
"Is that what Numbuh 5 thinks it is?"  
  
Surprise washed over One's face. He was about to speak but Five had already weaseled her way into his dormitory. Swiftly he ran after her, but found he may have been too late. She was already crouched by the wall smiling at the glowing apparatus affixed to it. The remaining trio gathered behind their commander.  
  
"Numbuh 5, just what do you think you're doing?"  
  
She chuckled softly, unable to contain herself. She knew it was inappropriate, but everyone could use a good laugh about now. Even if it was at Numbuh 1's expense.  
  
"Look at this. Numbuh 1's got his self a nightlight!"  
  
"N, no I don't." He stated, his voice stammering with a squeak. His companions ran past him to Numbuh 5's side to see the little bulb illuminating the room.  
  
"That looks like a nightlight to me." Numbuh 2 mused.  
  
A pink tint came to an otherwise pale face.  
  
"That's not a nightlight. --- It's a surveillance beacon."  
  
Numbuhs 2, 3 and 5 looked at his unsure expression then to each other with cocky grins.  
  
"Nightlight."  
  
Numbuh 1 gazed downward, avoiding eye contact with the others. This was terribly embarrassing. Here he was, the supposed leader of the Kids Next Door, falling prey to his boyhood insecurities and getting caught in the act no less.  
  
"It's just that---well I was---"  
  
Numbuh 4 jumped up from the floor, his own spirits lifting.  
  
"You were just as scared as us!"  
  
One gave the Aussie a defensive glare.  
  
"At least I had the decency to cower in fear in the privacy of my own room."  
  
"You didn't have to be alone if you were scared Numbuh 1." Numbuh 3 pitied.  
  
Numbuh 1 shook his head.  
  
"That's just crazy," He explained thrusting out his arms, "I can't go soliciting around for you guys just because I got a bit frightened. What would that say about my role of leader around here?"  
  
"Numbuh 5 say it's less embarrassing then gettin' caught with one a these." Five commented, plucking the light from its socket. The room plunged into darkness for the moment. The team heard their leader yelp amid the blackness as some thunder assaulted. Obliging him Numbuh 5 plugged the nightlight back in, letting its glow fill the room once more. But to their surprise, their leader was gone.  
  
"Where'd Numbuh 1 go?" Numbuh 2 asked nervously.  
  
The foursome looked around the vacant room, the level of worry starting to rise. Then Numbuh 3 spotted a quivering lump under the blanket sitting in the bulldozer scoop of a bed.  
  
"I found him!" She called out pulling off the top part of the covers revealing the bald and mortified young man.  
  
"This is ridiculous." He moaned, sinking low in his bed.  
  
It was that movie that was to blame for all this. Their constitutions had been weakened and their nerves shot all because of one scary movie. What made things worse was that going to see said movie was all his idea. He looked up at his teammates. Surprisingly they all looked down at him with sympathy and respect.  
  
"It's ok," Numbuh 5 smiled, "We all in the same boat here."  
  
"Yeah, I mean, we're all scared. At least we're all scared together." Numbuh 2 amended.  
  
Numbuh 1 sighed and sat up, fixing his glasses and addressing his crew.  
  
"Yes, but what do we do about it?"  
  
They all stopped to think. As always, Numbuh 5 was first to speak.  
  
"Numbuh 5 got an idea."  
  
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+  
  
The storm was dying down in the time suspended between late night and early morning. Five youngsters had congregated in the main rec. room with blankets and pillows, the skylight above them letting in the comforting moonlight. Snuggling onto the floor and couches the group was finally ready for a peaceful nights sleep.  
  
"Goodnight everyone." Numbuh 1 quipped cheerfully. His teammates choired back various versions of the sendoff as he settled in on the long sofa next to Numbuh 5 who had already fallen asleep, draped limp like a rag doll over the cushions. Below them on the floor Numbuh 3 was all curled up, comfy cozy, happy they were having a slumber party together. She squeezed her teddy bear for the first time that night out of playful love rather then fear. Numbuh 4 was close to her lying prone, his scruffy hair hiding his features save his impassive lips. She watched him laying there, not sure of what to make of him. It always seemed like he had something to prove, like he was looking for something but he didn't know how to get it or what it even was. He confused her sometimes. One moment he could be violent, crude and selfish, uncaring about the feelings or well being of others. But then again he could also be respectful, commanding, intelligent, friendly and dedicated. He was like two different people; one only looking out for his own interests, apathetic to anyone else, and the other willing to sacrifice his own life to save you from a one- way trip to Pluto. Two such drastically different personalities trapped inside the small blond boy; it baffled her but for some reason she always felt comfortable around him, as if even in his darkest moments he would never harm her.  
  
He grunted gently, turning over onto his side, his face pointed away from hers. His clothing now somewhat dry, still he huddled under his blanket for warmth, feeling exposed in more then the physical sense. Hopefully he wasn't the only one in the room wanted to forget this night ever happened.  
  
He was just starting to doze off when something soft brushed against his leg.  
  
"Numbuh 3, stop kicking me." He murmured.  
  
The raven-haired girl opened her eyes and answered drowsily.  
  
"I'm not."  
  
"Yes you are." He insisted, sounding whiny. "Quit it."  
  
"No I'm not." She whined back.  
  
Their little argument now had audience, as Numbuhs 1, 2 and 5 could not sleep with this tirade going on below them.  
  
Numbuh 4 reversed position to look Numbuh 3 in the eye. He was in no mood to be playing games with her. He glared at her for a moment, her eyes just as serious and intense as his own. Maybe she wasn't the culprit.  
  
"Numbuh 2?" He questioned another suspect.  
  
The pilot was curled up on a recliner next to the couch. He glanced at Four before nestling his head back onto his pillow.  
  
"I'm not even near you Numbuh 4."  
  
Four sat up, a look of confusion evident on his face.  
  
"Well, if ya not doin' it---"  
  
The group looked down nervously. Numbuh 4 gripped a corner of the blanket and flung it off his body.  
  
The room filled with screams.  
  
"Hamsters!" Numbuh 3 exclaimed delightedly, scooping up the rodents and snuggling them close to her face.  
  
The other four watched on dumbfounded, slack-jawed, and the smallest bit embarrassed to have been caught off guard by the harmless pets. Numbuh 4 crossed his arms and glowered at the hamster sitting in his lap, looking at him, chittering. He shooed it away before it could get comfortable. It scampered over to Numbuh 3 who greeted it with a happy embrace.  
  
"Numbuh 3, did you leave the hamster power generator door open again?" Numbuh 1 asked dryly.  
  
Numbuh 3 looked to him, then at the hamsters sitting in her hands. It was a delayed reaction but she realized what she did wrong.  
  
"Oopsy."  
  
"So dat's why the power wasn't on in Numbuh 5's sector." The dark girl observed.  
  
"And they must have been what was making those scratching noises in the walls." Numbuh 2 concluded.  
  
"Aww, poor things must have been scared by the storm too." Numbuh 3 gave the fluffy creatures another big hug.  
  
"Man," Numbuh 4 grouched, "We went through all that thinkin' the slasha' was 'ere an' it was cruddy hamsters the whole time!" He groaned openly and slouched back, leaning against the couch frowning.  
  
"Well, we have that mystery solved." Numbuh 1 sighed, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Now can we go to bed?"  
  
Everyone nodded in agreement, except for Numbuh 3 who remained sitting up watching the hamsters curl up in her lap. She started to giggle, once again rousing her friends from their slumber.  
  
"What is it now Numbuh 3?" Numbuh 1 groused.  
  
She looked up at her friends' annoyed faces with her innocent twinkling eyes.  
  
"You guys were so silly, being afraid of hamsters."  
  
Her companions all let out a collective groan; pulling their blankets over their heads, ready to ignore her for the rest of the night. She looked around, confused, and shrugged.  
  
"What? What did I say?"  
  
[END TRANSMISSION] 


End file.
